$150 -> $2000 and beyond: In = Discipline, Progression. Out = Poor BRM, Tilt. - Page 3 - Poker Goals & Challenges -- Two Plus Two Poker Forums

PokerGooner1 · 04-21-2012, 02:03 PM

Good work man, nice giraffes. Glad to see it's going well.

Hawk23 · 04-22-2012, 06:31 AM

First losing day in a week and no sign of tilt. Good signs. Of course, one day is a small sample so we'll se how I go if I string a losing streak together

Mind you, no bad beats or terrible suckouts. Just one of those days where I picked up plenty of small pots but lost all the big ones.

Opened QQ from CO and got 3b from 12/10 nit in the SB. Called in position and flops AJx. Called the flop and he fired strong again so gave up on the turn. Few orbits later same nit 3b again from the SB and gets a call from the BB. This time I shove AK and face KK and don't catch up. There's 1.5 BI there.

Also lost a stack when I 3b a MP open PF with AA from the button and flop 6c7c9c and I hold the Ac. Bet the flop and shove AI over the reraise. Of course he called the 3b oop with JcTc and I don't improve.

Lost a half stack to an 83/12 whale who was limping nearly every hand. Limps again utg and I raise the BB with JJ and he min-repops. Alarm bells are going but he is just under half stacked and I want to see every card so just put him in. See KK again.

Lost probably just under a half stack again to KK when I bet PF with 88 and got called. Villain x/c 264 flop, x/x Q T, x/x J R. Strange way to play KK.

So there's about 3.5 BIs there. Most of the rest of it was just picking up small pots when I had anything stronger. AA PF got folded to, flopped sets got no action. Did pick up one stack when I called a 3b in position with AJs and the BB went broke with AK on AJx board.

Overall played 698 hands and finished -$7.18

Hawk23 · 04-22-2012, 09:24 AM

Took a break for a few hours to watch a movie (Billy Bathgate) and then decided to light up another shortish session before I called it a night.

Boy, I am glad I did......................................

Nah, not really. Dropped a bit over another BI in no time. This time I did get hit with the bad beat/suck out card.

Picked up AT and raised it from the BB against the 74/0 limper. FlopT58, Bet/called. Turn 3, Bet/called. River 7, Bet/tank called.............with 64. Wasn't overly big pot thankfully.

Then get QQ and 3b PF raiser, who called. Flop TT5cc. End up all in v AKcc and he spikes his flush on the river.

Did I tilt? Well, it pissed me off

but I have logged straight off and will get a good night sleep and come back and slay 'em tomorrow.

Final, final result for day - 772 hands for -$13.55.

Hawk23 · 04-23-2012, 08:15 AM

Fair to say experienced first case of tilt at getting outdrawn tonight since the challenge started. Was up 2 BI after about 100 hands and then just missed a few pots and dropped off a bit and then catch two suckouts in close time that more or less wipes it out. Feels like you have wasted the evening. Just fkn annoying when these donks play so bad and catch their lucky cards. You can take getting bad beaten when you can understand their reasoning for the way they play a hand or the cards just play themselves, but seriously..............

First this one where I didn't lose too much more or less only because the donk forgot that when you suck out you should actually try and get value from it. If he checks the turn I would bet big with the intention of getting it all in with overpair and K high flush draw. Instead he only takes 10c from me when he sucks out so I thank him for that donkness.

PokerStars - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

BTN: $5.09
SB: $3.97
BB: $1.91
UTG: $3.77
Hero (MP): $5.30
CO: $4.95

SB posts SB $0.02, BB posts BB $0.05

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero has K

K

fold, Hero raises to $0.17, fold, fold, SB calls $0.15, fold

Flop: ($0.39, 2 players) 8

9

7

SB bets $0.05, Hero raises to $0.55, SB calls $0.50

Turn: ($1.49, 2 players) Q

SB bets $0.10, Hero calls $0.10

River: ($1.69, 2 players) 6

SB checks, Hero checks

SB shows Q

8

(Two Pair, Queens and Eights) (Pre 13%, Flop 21%, Turn 64%)
Hero mucks K

K

(One Pair, Kings) (Pre 87%, Flop 79%, Turn 36%)
SB wins $1.62

This one annoyed me though because he gets rewarded for taking a decent hand and playing it badly.

PokerStars - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

BTN: $0.58
SB: $10.02
BB: $5.00
UTG: $5.70
MP: $1.72
Hero (CO): $5.00

SB posts SB $0.02, BB posts BB $0.05

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero has 8

9

UTG calls $0.05, fold, Hero raises to $0.20, fold, fold, fold, UTG calls $0.15

Flop: ($0.47, 2 players) 2

T

3

UTG bets $0.20, Hero raises to $1.25, UTG raises to $5.50 and is all-in, Hero calls $3.55 and is all-in

Turn: ($10.07, 2 players) J

River: ($10.07, 2 players) 3

UTG shows T

T

(Full House, Tens full of Threes) (Pre 81%, Flop 34%, Turn 23%)
Hero shows 8

9

(Flush, Ten High) (Pre 19%, Flop 66%, Turn 77%)
UTG wins $9.65

I suppose there are 2 positives from the night. Despite my anger (and there was plenty) I logged off straight away as a tilt control measure. I'm not going to bleed off $$ in frustration. Tonight I felt i was on the edge so have taken steps.

Secondly, I made a conscious effort to play a bit more proactively tonight. Bet more from the CO and Btn and isolated limpers a lot more and the early results showed it was working and I was playing well. Still finished with a very small win for the day and but for those suckouts would have finished close to 3 BIs up.

Hawk23 · 04-23-2012, 08:26 AM

AAAAARrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh. Rage.

Decide to try a quick session of 5NL full ring zoom. Only played 4 hands - this **** is too much. Just keep calling donkeys.......

PokerStars - $0.05 NL ZOOM - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

Hero (BTN): $5.00
SB: $5.12
BB: $6.77
UTG: $6.66
UTG+1: $5.08
MP: $6.47
MP+1: $8.43
LP: $9.62
CO: $5.00

SB posts SB $0.02, BB posts BB $0.05

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero has Q

T

fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.15, fold, BB calls $0.10

Flop: ($0.32, 2 players) 2

Q

2

BB checks, Hero bets $0.25, BB calls $0.25

Turn: ($0.82, 2 players) 2

BB checks, Hero bets $0.50, BB calls $0.50

River: ($1.82, 2 players) 5

BB bets $1.25, Hero calls $1.25

BB shows 5

5

(Full House, Fives full of Twos) (Pre 51%, Flop 8%, Turn 6%)
Hero mucks Q

T

(Full House, Twos full of Queens) (Pre 49%, Flop 92%, Turn 94%)
BB wins $4.14

Hawk23 · 04-23-2012, 09:43 AM

Well, that's finally the end of a really swinging session. Took a few breaks when things didn't go my way and came back and continued to play well IMO. Fairly happy overall although only booked the smallest of wins.

Stuck with 2 tabling Zoom full ring towards the back end of the session and will definitely have another shot at that soon enough.

After dropping half a buy in early (hand above) I recouped that and more pretty quickly to gain about 2 BI before I dropped another right at the end with the standard KK < AA AIPF. Not much you can do there but my impression of this game is that it is much more passive than Zoom 6 max. Much more. Easier to steal, resteal, isolate and cbet. A lot of limp/folding and call and then folding to cbets.

Being coolered about the only way to get stacked. When they stick around you can slow down and get to showdown if possible, and fold if they wake up and start betting. There was just no tricky play at all and rarely any aggressive play. Bet, bet, bet when you have something.

PokerGooner1 · 04-23-2012, 09:59 AM

Great work on taking that big step of logging off when u feel yourself tilting. One thing, it sounds from your earlier post where u said u were 2BI up after 100hands that you're checking your p/l while u play. If so, this is something you need to try to stop. If u didnt check you wouldnt know u were 2BI up,and wouldnt get tilted by knowing u were then back to even after some suck outs

Hawk23 · 04-23-2012, 10:09 AM

Yep. Definitely something I need to work on.

Btw - apologies to anyone who can't be shagged reading the bad beats and suck outs. Plan on posting these a lot less as I get on top of the tilt. Feel like I'm getting there too. In the meantime sitting out and posting them in the thread is a little like therapy as it gives me a few moments away from the table to cool my head.

Will be looking to limit HHs to more interesting spots as often as I can.

Hawk23 · 04-23-2012, 07:18 PM

For those of you with taste, here's a little something to enjoy.

Spoiler:

And for those who want to experience the brilliance of Buddy.

Spoiler:

Hawk23 · 04-23-2012, 08:09 PM

Just received one of the regular emails I get from Daily Variance and it resonates with me and serves as a reminder about how to approach the game. Thought I'd share it with you guys although you better players won't need any reminding.

Quote:

I Play Solid .. But I Can't Seem to Win

Hi xxxxx,

This is Tri.

I hear a lot of players say this and it gets funnier every time I hear it. The reason is, they really don't "play solid." What they mean is they play in a robotic manner and hope to cooler someone. So when they win these big cooler pots, they believe they are playing well, though really they are just running well. And if they lose these cooler pots, they attribute it primarily to running bad -- which is true, but there's more to the story than this.

The fact is, poker is much more than those big cooler pots. Poker is a game that is defined by better players accumulating small edges here and there. When you sit and play a solid game, better players are taking a more active role in maximizing their EV. For example, they play with a little more aggression. They fight extra hard for pots. They think of opponents' ranges before betting. They dictate the flow of the game and are always aware of their images. People usually say they play a good game and they are just running bad. But there are often small things they fail to acknowledge. Three notable examples are c-betting too much, neglecting the small pots, and passive pre-flop play. It's hard to detect these problems because if you were aware of them, you probably would have fixed them already.

When we look over our sessions, we usually focus on the big pots that we win or lose, but we neglect to think about our overall game and what we can do to improve it. A player who is active pre-flop will take a lot of uncontested pots and thus doesn't necessarily have to win those big cooler pots to have a winning session. It's amazing how Doyle was so ahead of his time.

Next time when you're at the table, remember to think thoroughly about a situation before clicking a button. Don't be lazy. Talk aloud your thought process. Practice. Perhaps you'll realize that maybe, just maybe, you weren't as solid as you assumed.

Good luck,
- Tri

Hawk23 · 04-25-2012, 04:23 AM

Why when you're running bad and getting AK < KK, K high flush < A high flush etc etc can you not hold up when the donkey decides to play his trash?

PokerStars - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

BB: $5.00
UTG: $5.07
MP: $12.89
CO: $4.95
BTN: $7.76
Hero (SB): $5.00

Hero posts SB $0.02, BB posts BB $0.05

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero has A

K

fold, MP raises to $0.15, fold, fold, Hero raises to $0.50, fold, MP calls $0.35

Flop: ($1.05, 2 players) 3

K

2

Hero bets $0.95, MP calls $0.95

Turn: ($2.95, 2 players) T

Hero bets $2.00, MP calls $2.00

River: ($6.95, 2 players) A

Hero bets $1.55 and is all-in, MP calls $1.55

Hero shows A

K

(Two Pair, Aces and Kings) (Pre 64%, Flop 72%, Turn 84%)
MP shows 4

5

(Straight, Five High) (Pre 36%, Flop 28%, Turn 16%)
MP wins $9.63

Anyway, I'm just hemorrhaging at the moment and struggling to stop the bleeding. Down 9 BIs over the past 3 days. Hands like the ones above plus plenty of coolers where I keep making hands against the top of their range. $2 stacks set mining my KK with 88 for half their stack and hitting. My top hands (AA-QQ, AK) are getting outdrawn and my middle range AQ, TT-JJ are always hitting bigger. Won't lie, some spew in there too because when you keep getting outdrawn it starts getting harder to fold because "they can't have f***en hit again". Oh yes, they can.

AK in particular is a hand I'm having trouble with I think. Need to check my database but think I'm getting killed with it at the moment. Will need to analyse how i'm playing it and whether I;m just getting unlucky or need to change something.

Hawk23 · 04-25-2012, 04:58 AM

OK, time for some stats. These are just the past 4 days. What can you see and what else can I provide that will give you a better picture? Yeah, I can see that it's very tight for 6 max but at the same time that makes the current bleeding even harder to understand.

Just drilled down my AKo and AKs hands over the past 4 days. The hand above was just a joke against a 64/45 luckbox. Lost a half stack against a flopped set by a short stacker on a K8x board so probably nothing I can do there I think.

Lost two other stacks with AK AIPF both times and faced AA and KK. Easy to say just unlucky but I'm wondering whether we are always stacking off at 5NL with AK or whether I should be folding in these examples.

PokerStars - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

BTN: $5.00
SB: $3.00
BB: $5.00
UTG: $4.20
Hero (MP): $5.03
CO: $6.50

SB posts SB $0.02, BB posts BB $0.05

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero has A

K

fold, Hero raises to $0.17, fold, fold, fold, BB raises to $0.53, Hero raises to $1.55, BB raises to $4.67, Hero raises to $5.03 and is all-in, BB calls $0.33 and is all-in

Flop: ($10.02, 2 players) 7

4

T

Turn: ($10.02, 2 players) 4

River: ($10.02, 2 players) 8

BB shows A

A

(Two Pair, Aces and Fours) (Pre 93%, Flop 98%, Turn 100%)
Hero shows A

K

(One Pair, Fours) (Pre 7%, Flop 2%, Turn 0%)
BB wins $9.60

PokerStars - $0.05 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

UTG: $1.17
Hero (MP): $5.11
CO: $8.41
BTN: $5.90
SB: $6.57
BB: $9.51

SB posts SB $0.02, BB posts BB $0.05

Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero has K

A

UTG calls $0.05, Hero raises to $0.25, fold, BTN raises to $0.70, fold, BB calls $0.65, fold, Hero raises to $2.00, BTN raises to $5.90 and is all-in, fold, Hero calls $3.11 and is all-in

Flop: ($10.99, 2 players) 5

9

4

Turn: ($10.99, 2 players) Q

River: ($10.99, 2 players) 5

Hero shows K

A

(One Pair, Fives) (Pre 30%, Flop 13%, Turn 7%)
BTN shows K

K

(Two Pair, Kings and Fives) (Pre 70%, Flop 87%, Turn 93%)
BTN wins $10.53

OK, I'll give it one more crack tonight. Try to just play solid and really take time on every decision. See if I can break even at the least.

PokerGooner1 · 04-25-2012, 05:41 AM

Will have a proper look later but at first glance you're playing too tight. Esp on the btn - loosen up and play more hands ip. Problem with being too tight is u encourage ppl to play pairs/implied odds hands against u,as they know u will have tptk or an overpair and they'll wait to hit their disguised monster. Then its hard for u to fold as its the first good hand you'd played in 20 minutes

PokerGooner1 · 04-25-2012, 05:44 AM

Also i'm finding AK/QQ are not auto stack offs unless villain is fairly loose. When the pot starts going 4bet/5bet you're mostly screwed at 5nl unless u have AA/KK. Experiment with playing AK smaller, esp in position

Hawk23 · 04-25-2012, 05:54 AM

Thanks mate. Had one more session and dropped close to another 2 BI already.

I have really tight sessions but others when I play a lot looser and yet I feel it's those sessions I am copping more grief. Not crazy loose either. Talking 23/19 or 27/23 rather than 12/10. And while I know what you mean about getting set up for implied odds etc, a lot of the times it's just donks playing trash and not even thinking about what sort of player I am, or actually getting the KK when you have AK and there's no way you fold to them the way they have been playing.

Definitely tilt called someone just now for a stack when I raised the CO with 66 and he just shoves AI from the Btn. I tank call thinking what does he do this with. Small PP or AK/AQ. Still a loose call but I make it and see 55. Woo hoo. Flop 895 xx. Ahhhhh.

Then get it in with AKcc on a 762cc flop against TT.

Doesn't matter how, who, what position, what hand............can't find a win in a big pot and it's crippling me at the moment.